Manju Narain is a sensitive and introspective artist with a penchant for the unusual and thought-provoking image. Within the apparent calm and stillness of her repertoire lie hidden, complex psychological elements of terror, awe, and fantasy. Such is the depth of her understanding, both of painting as well as music. Narain carves-out her private artistic temperament within the traditional Indian structure of a woman's familial responsibilities....
Read MoreManju Narain is a sensitive and introspective artist with a penchant for the unusual and thought-provoking image. Within the apparent calm and stillness of her repertoire lie hidden, complex psychological elements of terror, awe, and fantasy. Such is the depth of her understanding, both of painting as well as music. Narain carves-out her private artistic temperament within the traditional Indian structure of a woman's familial responsibilities. She is a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and a mother-in-law. She plays all these roles, simultaneously, while finding release in her first true love: Art.

Narain has trained in painting under the artist Rameshwar Broota at Delhi 's Traveni Kala Sangam, and in vocal classical music under the late Sarfaraz Hussain Khan Saheb, and now, under the well-know ghazal ustads, Ahmed and Mohammed Hussain.

The artist's works on paper bear the soft touch of charcoal, pencil, pastel and watercolours, depicting strange innocent beings and wistfully-illustrative fairytale creatures, trapped silently within claustrophobic gardens and troubling mazes, as if striving for some means of escape and true expression. That which initially appears as an idyll in her images actually reveals underlying strains of suffocation, albeit beneath an apparent blanket of security. The resultant expressions and mudras often bear elements of anguish, terror, fear, and deep pathos. There is a childlike feeling of bewilderment at all the complex intrigues and the deceptions of the world. Narain's attempts to express her genuine reactions and observations are her own personal path towards catharsis.

Narain is a staunch supporter, admirer and friend of artists and intellectual pursuits. Her self-chosen absorption in this complex field is a heartfelt and genuine attempt at 'Sudhana', or a quest for a self that strives higher and wider than the mundane, worldly pursuits of 'Samsara'.
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Education

She has been trained under artist Rameshwar Broota

Exhibitions

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2005 Krishna’s Collection Art Gallery,...

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2005 Krishna’s Collection Art Gallery, New Delhi

2003 Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi

1998 Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur

1997 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1996 Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi

1994 Display Gallery, New Delhi

1992 Display Gallery, New Delhi
Selected Group Exhibitions

2007 ‘Art for a Sunnier Tomorrow’ A tribute to the Late Shri Lalit Suri at Hotel Inter-continental organized by Savera Association, New Delhi

2006 ‘Symphony of Colors’, presented by Artland Gallery at Ashoka Hotel, New Delhi